Scharfenberger to be installed as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany during afternoon Mass

In this file photo from Feb. 11, officials from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany introduced the Rev. Msgr. Edward Scharfenberger as its bishop-elect during a press conference at the Albany Pastoral Center on North Main Avenue in Albany.
Mike McMahon - The Record

ALBANY >> Starting this afternoon, for the first time in nearly four decades, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany will have a new bishop.

A ceremony at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception will begin today at 2 p.m. when, after 37 years, Bishop Howard Hubbard will step down from the position and Rev. Msgr. Edward B. Scharfenberger of Brooklyn will become the 10th Bishop of Albany.

For those interested in watching the affair, Time Warner Cable will cover the event and WOPG 1460AM will have it on the radio. Online coverage by the Albany and Brooklyn Dioceses will also be available.

The entire event - which includes a traditional Roman Catholic Mass - is expected to have about 1,200 guests at the church and last about 2 1/2 hours.

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Scharfenberger, diocese officials said, will be given a crosier, or shepherd’s staff, which once belonged to an auxiliary bishop in Brooklyn. His family, including his parents who are 93 and 94 years old, are also expected to be involved with the Mass.

A graduate of Fordham University School of Law, Scharfenberger was admitted to the bar in New York in 1991. He served as the Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of Brooklyn from 1993 to 2002. He has been the Administrator of the Diocesan Board of Mediation and Arbitration for the past 15 years as well as chaplain of the Kings County Catholic Lawyers Guild. He has served as instructor in Moral Theology at the diocesan Pastoral Institute and as an Adjunct Professor at St. Joseph’s College, officials said.

He was appointed to this new post by Pope Francis in a public announcement on Feb. 11.

Hubbard reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 this past October.

The ceremony will feature Principal Consecrator Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. Serving as Principal Co-consecrators will be the Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, of Brooklyn, and Hubbard of Albany, officials said.

At the time of the announcement in February, Scharfenberger said, “How grateful I am to His Holiness Pope Francis for the awesome privilege to serve as pastor of all the wonderful people in the Diocese of Albany. I ask the priests, deacons, religious and laity to help me to be myself – my best self. I promise to love and respect all of you by letting you be who you are and to bring out the best in you. Let’s do this for one another. I will spend every talent that God has given to me, and every ounce of energy, for the Church in Albany.”